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Saudi King Abdullah announced on Sunday he was giving women the right to vote and run in municipal elections, the only public polls in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Jordan's King Abdullah II had some harsh things to say about the way Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was managing Israel's foreign policy. But perhaps, says MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), Abdullah would be better off minding his own business -- and worrying about his own problems. "Abdullah is apparently the only Arab in the Middle East who doesn't know that Jordan is next in line for the 'Arab Spring' treatment, as occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria," MK Eldad said Tuesday afternoon. "Instead of advising Israel, it would behoove him...

Angry Palestinian Jordanians stoned the convoy of King Abdullah Monday afternoon and exchanged gunshots with his guards, according to an activist who quoted reliable sources, including Jordanian journalists. The king was unharmed, and the monarchy claimed that the attackers actually were trying to shake King Abdullah’s hand as he toured in the southern city of Tafillah. The official version of the incident, the second in three months, is that “the motorcade of His Majesty the King was not attacked.” Government spokesman Taher Adwan said, "This news is totally baseless. What happened is that a group of young Jordanians thronged the...

AMMAN, Jordan – Jordanian security official says motorcade of King Abdullah II attacked, king unharmed.

The Obama administration is scrambling to repair dam aged relations with Ameri ca's most prominent Arab ally -- and it's hard to blame the Saudis for being furious. Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to beg for an audience in the Saudi king's palace. (Gates was making the rounds in the region -- but the Saudis at first declined to see him.) Then National Security Adviser Tom Donilon showed up again on Wednesday for a hastily arranged meet. According to The Washington Post, he hand-delivered a secret letter from President Obama to King Abdullah. And yesterday the White House...

Just before noon today while Chris Plant was interviewing Brigitte Gabrielle (sp) at CPAC she received a call or text msg that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died last night of a heat attack. Saudis with held news because of Egypt crisis. She stated that this info came to her unconfirmed.

Islam Times: Saudi Arabia's 86-year-old King Abdullah was discharged from a New York City hospital in good health after going through two back operations in December 2010. The king delegated the management of the affairs of the world’s largest oil supplier to his half-brother, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, during his absence. King Abdullah talked with Obama about the situation in Egypt over the phone yesterday. Obama and the King got into a heated debate about their opinions of what Hosni Mubarak should do. After the phone call sources stated that King Abdullah was furious and then suffered a sudden...

Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak if the Obama administration tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt, The Times of London reported Thursday. In a testy personal telephone call on Jan. 29, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah reportedly told President Obama not to humiliate Mubarak and warned that he would step in to bankroll Egypt if the U.S. withdrew its aid program, worth $1.5 billion annually. America's closest ally in the Gulf made clear that the Egyptian president must be allowed to stay on to oversee the transition towards peaceful democracy and...

This just hit the internet, and we don't know if it's true. It's on IslamTimes, and frankly it doesn't read credibly because it ties his death to discussions about Egypt. Needless to say, were it true, it would only further concerns about Mideast stability at an already fragile time. Oil prices originally jumped on the news, but then that faded, perhaps indicating the market's disbelief in the rumor.

Saudi Arabia threatened to prop up President Hosni Mubarak if the White House tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt, The Times of London reported Thursday. The news came as testimony gathered by the Guardian newspaper claimed that the Egyptian military, despite maintaining an appearance of neutrality in the ongoing crisis, had secretly detained hundreds and possibly thousands of suspected government opponents since mass protests began weeks ago. Egyptians continued to demonstrate across the country Wednesday in a 16th day of protests against longtime leader Mubarak despite warnings of a crackdown by the regime if the continued...

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Nobody wants regime change, but people here want accountability and an end to government corruption," Jordanian analysts say. Unrest ripping across the Arab world is putting pressure on Jordan's King Abdullah II, a key US ally who has been making promises of reform in recent days in an apparent attempt to quell domestic discontent over economic degradation and lack of political freedoms. After two weeks of widespread protests inspired by the revolt that overthrew Tunisia's autocratic president, Abdullah has promised reforms in meetings with members of parliament, former prime ministers, civil society institutions and even Jordan's largest opposition group, the...

Gordon Brown gave Barack Obama $16,500 (£10,000) worth of gifts during a US visit, in return for a selection of DVDs. The value of Mr Brown's gifts, a pen and holder made from the wood of an anti-slavery ship, along with two biographies of Winston Churchill, was disclosed by the US State Department on Tuesday. Mr Obama, by comparison, gave him a boxset of 25 classic US films such as Citizen Kane and ET.

The TSA should give him a thorough search with a cattle prod…

Saudi King Abdullah and security czar Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz have held talks with top intelligence and counter-terror officials from the United States and Canada, the SPA news agency reported. John Brennan, assistant to US President Barack Obama for homeland security and counter-terrorism, discussed in Jeddah on Sunday "issues that concern the two countries" with King Abdullah, Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, the state news agency said without elaborating. Afterward, Brennan held talks with Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, the country's senior domestic security official for...

Israel is trying to prevent a big defense contract between the United States and Saudi Arabia from going through, a senior defense source told Haaretz. The deal includes the purchase of scores of new F-15 fighter jets and the upgrading of the 150 F-15s already in the Saudi air force. The source said Israel expressed a number of reservations to the Americans over the past month, and the issue is expected to come up in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meetings in Washington on Tuesday. Defense Minister Ehud Barak raised the deal in meetings with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and...

One way to get around the whole bowing problem? Don’t let in the reporters until you’re already sitting down. President Obama played host to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the White House on Tuesday but avoided the diplomatic trapdoor he fell through a year ago by greeting the monarch without cameras around to record whether he bowed first. The president raised eyebrows and stirred criticism in April 2009 when he encountered King Abdullah at a summit meeting of the Group of 20 nations in London. As Mr. Obama approached, he appeared to bow before the king. The White House...

Note: The following text is a quote: Mullen Stresses Precision, Innovation to Graduates By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service FORT LESLEY J. MCNAIR, Washington, D.C., June 10, 2010 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today told graduates of the National Defense University here that their careers will be dominated by their understanding of the precise application of military force and national power. NDU’s National War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces graduated 603 people from the armed services, civilian agencies and many foreign countries. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and King Abdullah of...

Israel has become concerned over declining stability in neighboring Jordan. Government sources said the intelligence community has detected a sharp increase in Islamic unrest as well as insurgency activity. The sources said several opposition groups were believed to be cooperating to destabilize the Hashemite regime. "The situation in the kingdom is not stable and the friction between the government and the terror groups there is growing," former Mossad director Danny Yatom said. In 2010, Israel has come under at least two attacks in Jordan. In April, two Katyusha-class rockets were fired from the area around the southern Jordanian port of...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for support lobbying for U.N. sanctions against Iran on Wednesday and discussed ways to boost the kingdom's air and missile defenses.The United States is leading a push for the U.N. Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, and aides to Gates made no secret of their hopes that Saudi Arabia could press regional allies for help. "We are certainly hopeful that the Saudis will use whatever influence they have, which is considerable, in this region and throughout the world to try to help...